The Lakers climbed to 26 wins on Monday night, defeating the Utah Jazz, 119-104, behind a big night from Nick Young. In beating the Jazz, the Lakers lost the chance to finish the season tied with Utah at 25 wins. The Jazz (24-57) have the fourth-worst record in the NBA. A Lakers' loss could have set up a three-way tie in the NBA draft lottery standings with the Jazz and Boston Celtics (25-56) -- each having a 9% chance at the top overall pick. Instead, the Lakers have dipped down to sixth in the lottery, with a 6.3% chance at the No. 1 selection.

THE BEST WAY TO HORSESHOE CANYON, UTAH From LAX, American, Delta and Southwest offer nonstop service to Salt Lake City; US Airways, United, Southwest and Frontier offer connecting service (change of plane). Restricted round-trip fares begin at $230. Horseshoe Canyon is about a six-hour drive from Salt Lake City, depending on conditions. The graded dirt road to the canyon is 32 miles long and usually passable by passenger vehicles as long as it's not muddy. The trail is 61/2 miles round trip and hot in spring and summer, so carry plenty of water.

The Lakers (25-55) play arguably their most important game of the season on Monday night, visiting the also-lottery-bound Utah Jazz (24-56). Measured by futility, both teams are well-positioned for the 2014 NBA draft lottery. The Jazz are currently the fourth-worst team in the league, but another win would push them into a three-way tie in the win column with the Boston Celtics and Lakers. While each team would have an equal 9% chance at the top pick in the NBA draft, the league would flip coins to determine the order of each franchise -- should they not win the lottery.

LAKERS TONIGHT AT UTAH Time: 6 PST On the air: TV: Channel 9; Radio: 710; 1330. Where: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City Records: Lakers 6-4; Jazz 6-3. Update: The Lakers had no trouble with Utah two weeks ago at Staples Center, winning 96-71 despite playing their third game in as many days. The Lakers held the Jazz to 28.2% accuracy through three quarters in that game. Center Al Jefferson made two of 16 shots. —Mike Bresnahan

Clippers tonight AT UTAH When: 6 PST. Where: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City. On the air: TV: Prime Ticket; Radio: 980, 1330. Records: Clippers 25-37, Jazz 39-22. Record vs. Jazz: 1-2. Update: The Clippers nearly lost a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Jazz on Monday at Staples Center amid a flurry of turnovers before pulling out a 108-104 victory. Utah has won 13 consecutive games against the Clippers at home, last losing in 2003. — Ben Bolch

If you go THE BEST WAY TO ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, UTAH From Los Angeles, the best way to get there is to drive. Just take Interstate 15 all the way to Utah and pick up Interstate 70, turn south on Highway 191 and follow the signs to Moab. It also is possible to fly to Las Vegas, Salt Lake City or Grand Junction, Colo., where rental cars are available. WHERE TO STAY The Devils Garden Campground in Arches National Park ( www.nps.gov/arch ) has 50 individual sites that are $20 per night and can accommodate up to 10 people.

A swift-moving wildfire sparked by lightning has destroyed 13 homes and threatens hundreds more near a Utah resort town where firefighters were working for a second day Wednesday to stem its advance. The fire, which erupted in the Lake Rockport Estates subdivision near Park City, had also claimed 20 other structures such as cabins and barns, as well as numerous cars and boats, spokeswoman Julie Booth said. She said an additional 250 structures were “currently compromised,” with firefighters battling to save them.

When: 6:30 PST. Where: Staples Center. On the air: TV: Time Warner Cable SportsNet, Time Warner Cable Deportes; Radio: 710, 1330. Records: Lakers 9-11, Jazz 11-10. Record vs. Jazz: 0-1. Update: The Lakers lost in Salt Lake City last month, 95-85, and Coach Mike Brown lost his job two days later. Pau Gasol had five points in 36 minutes in that game, missing seven of nine shots. Utah is markedly different on the road (3-9) than at home (8-1). - Mike Bresnahan

SALT LAKE CITY - Poor Lakers. They lose even when they win. They hammered the similarly woeful Utah Jazz on Monday, 119-104, but damaged their lottery percentages for the draft. If the Lakers had lost, Utah would have caught them (and Boston) in the overall standings, forging a three-way tie for the NBA's fourth-worst record. BOX SCORE: Lakers 119, Jazz 104 Now the Lakers (26-55) will probably finish with the sixth-worst record and a 6.3% chance at the No. 1 pick at the May 20 lottery.

When: 6 PDT. Where: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City. On the air: TV: TWC SportsNet, TWC Deportes; Radio: 710, 1330. Records: Lakers 25-54 through Saturday; Jazz 24-56. Record vs. Jazz: 1-2. Update: Utah has lost 15 of its last 17 games, the victories coming against Orlando by a point and New Orleans by four. Utah is 29th in the league in scoring, averaging only 94.4 points a game. Guard-forward Gordon Hayward is averaging 16.1 points, the only Jazz player averaging more than 14 a game.

Utah police have arrested a 39-year-old woman in connection with the discovery of seven infants' bodies in the garage of a home in a small community 40 minutes south of Salt Lake City. Pleasant Grove Police Capt. Michael Roberts told the Los Angeles Times on Sunday that investigators think Megan Huntsman gave birth to all of the infants between 1996 and 2006 and then killed them. “We believe she birthed each baby and then killed it after it was born,” he said. Police made the grisly finding Saturday morning in the town of 35,000 after the woman's estranged husband, who was cleaning the garage prior to moving back into the home, found a dead infant and called authorities.

DENVER - After the courtroom arguments ended, the hundreds of pages of previously filed legal briefs had been read, and the nervous tears of the three couples at the heart of a Utah same-sex marriage case had dried, it came down to one question: Who gets to define matrimony? On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver pondered that question in a closely watched case that weighs a state's right to enforce its own laws against the rights of individuals to marry regardless of gender.

On picturesque winter slopes, the youngsters racing snowboards downhill and the mature skiers calmly gliding down have routinely been cast as warring snow-lovers. A Utah ski resort has tried to keep feuding off its slopes by banning snowboards altogether since the 1980s. Four middle-aged snowboarders are protesting that policy, filing a lawsuit in January. The snowboarders sued Alta Ski Area and the U.S. Forest Service in U.S. District Court in Utah. They argue that their constitutional right to equal use of federal land had been irrationally denied and that the Forest Service, working in concert with Alta, allowed discrimination in violation of the snowboarders' due process rights.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Defense. Defense. Defense. Once the Clippers decided to play defense, they overwhelmed the Utah Jazz in pulling out a 96-87 victory Friday night at Energy Solutions Arena to extend Los Angeles' winning streak to 10 games. The Clippers were indifferent about playing defense in the first half, allowing the Jazz to score 51 points, shoot 50% from the field, 55.6% (five for nine) from three-point range and outrebound them, 24-14. But the Clippers clamped down on the Jazz in the second half, holding Utah to just 36 points and 40.5% shooting.

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, Utah - I am seated on a narrow ledge waiting for the setting sun to add a golden glow to the famous Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. A tripod is wedged between my knees. There is not a lot of room here, and a misstep could result in a nasty fall. Far below, a lone hiker with a backpack walks by - just a small figure diminished by the large arch above him. Then, the light of the setting sun arrives. The red rock begins to glow, and everything else - the trail's 480 feet of elevation gain, the almost precarious perch and more - is swallowed up by the grandeur of the scene.

If you go THE BEST WAY TO ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, UTAH From Los Angeles, the best way to get there is to drive. Just take Interstate 15 all the way to Utah and pick up Interstate 70, turn south on Highway 191 and follow the signs to Moab. It also is possible to fly to Las Vegas, Salt Lake City or Grand Junction, Colo., where rental cars are available. WHERE TO STAY The Devils Garden Campground in Arches National Park ( www.nps.gov/arch ) has 50 individual sites that are $20 per night and can accommodate up to 10 people.